The German municipality of Bergheim apologized to a Muslim woman who was banned from voting because she wore the hijab in the parliamentary elections on September 26.
In a statement, the municipality said the woman in question wore a headscarf and covered her face was prevented from voting by one of the employees at the polling station.
According to the statement, the woman complained with the centre officials, who called on the authorities to intervene and force the employee to give her the ballot.
Following this "shameful incident", the municipality offered its official apologies to the woman, while preliminary inquiries denied any "racist, Islamophobic or xenophobic intention" on the part of the employee.
